Hot melt adhesives provide a convenient and economical way to label articles of commerce such as glass, metal and plastic containers for consumer and industrial products. Hot melt adhesives are easy to handle in their solid form, generally have an indefinite shelf life, are environmentally friendly and cost effective since they do not involve solvents, and are able to quickly form adhesive bonds without any supplementary processing. One disadvantage of hot melt adhesives is their tendency to damage a label. Various relatively low molecular weight additives generally present in hot melt adhesives can migrate into a polymeric film of a label and result in staining, swelling and distortion of the label which detract from its function and appearance. This additive migration can also gradually result in the hot melt adhesive losing tack or adhesiveness especially at high service temperatures which can result in partial or complete detachment of the label. Hot melt adhesives can also cause thermal distortion of labels which lack heat resistance.
The polymeric film of the present invention minimizes or eliminates migration of hot melt adhesive additives and is heat resistant so that derivative labels are not damaged and remain attached to a container even at high service temperatures. The inventive polymeric film further provides the performance that is required to produce high quality labels including printability, die-cuttability, sufficient stiffness for dispensability, and conformability to an article or container.